Sir Christophe the Fair
Sir Diego Ramos a.k.a. Sir Christophe Chevalier "the Fair" is a knight in France. He is secretly a spy for the Spanish Crown. History Early History To say Diego’s origins are unusual is a bit of an understatement. Mixed court marriages are common among the royalty, and to a lesser extent the higher ranked nobles, but for a Spanish lady to marry a mere French knight was simply unheard of. Sir Thierry of Vibraye had fled his homeland after a bloody debate with his king, stumbling into Spain to nurse his physical and mental wounds. Lady Catalina had taken him in. And I’m sure you can infer what became of that. Even if Florence Nightingale wouldn’t come around for several hundred years, it didn’t stop caregivers from falling in love with their patients. And for his part, Thierry tumbled head over heels for the gorgeous brunette who tended him. They were married a year after he stumbled into her life, and six months later Catalina was pregnant. The young couple was overjoyed. Diego was born nine months later, in the warmth of early summer. His early years were spent surrounded by his parents, as Catalina’s estates were rural and the family rarely spent any time at the royal court, preferring to avoid the intrigue and suspicion that always reined at any gathering of nobility and royalty. Which begs the question of where Diego learned to become such an excellent spy, but that’s a story for later. He spent his time in the splendid gardens his mother kept, frolicking as young boys are wont to. There were scarce few children around the remote estate, so Diego learned to rely on himself for company. His parents lost count of how many times one of them or one of the servants had to track down the wayward boy, lost in some fantasy deep in the woods. His friends were the winds and the river, his toys branches and sticks, and Diego found his own fun in the woods. He learned to become inventive, creating games for himself out of nothing and with no playmates, keeping himself occupied for long hours until his mother worried wolves had carried him off. When the boy was old enough, Thierry began to train his son in the art of knighthood. Between the sword work, riding, and jousting lessons, Diego fell into bed at night too tired to even close his eyes. But it was his mother who was the real taskmaster. No son of hers was going to be anything but a gentleman. “Sit up straight Diego!” She would hiss, or “Chew with your mouth closed Diego!”, and lightly hit him with thin reed. He learned dancing and courting manners under her tutelage, and the court manners of both the French and Spanish courts from both parents, in line with his heritage. It would serve him well later in life. When Diego was thirteen, something unusual happened. His mother became pregnant with her second child. It was a girl, and the new baby, Natalia, fascinated Diego. She was too young to join into his games, but never the less, Diego fell head over heels for the tiny brunette. He spent hours fussing over her crib, playing with her little fingers and toes, having to be forcefully dragged away to continue his lessons. She was so small and fragile. Diego vowed then and there, as a mere thirteen year old boy, that he would protect Natalia, no matter what. Knighthood and Beyond At seventeen, Diego reached the age at which he progressed to his squirehood, and his father decided it would be better for him to gain some perspective by training under another knight. So the small family packed up and moved to court for a period, and at which Diego came to be trained by a knight named Sir Julian. It was here that Diego learned to become a spy. Julian recognized the potential Diego offered early on, with his mixed heritage. While it occasionally ostracized him, it presented a unique situation. There had lately been murmurings of a French alliance with Scotland, though nothing concrete would come into play for several years. But nevertheless, King Hector and his advisors were dying to know what was going on in the French Court. Juian, a spy as well as a knight himself, realized Diego could help. He took over the young teen’s training, enhancing his abilities in traditional knightly areas as well as few new ones, like discerning important information from useless, and the ability to walk unseen among a crowd. In this, he excelled. Long since used to his own company having grown up primarily separated from children his own age, Diego was very good at listening and moving about unseen. It worked the other way too. He was very charismatic, because people always feel like he’s listening, and genuinely cares about what they’re saying. Which he does. Just not for the reasons they think. Julian trained Diego for eight years, and at age twenty-five, he earned his shield and carried it into battle for his King. The young knight fought under the banner for Spain in various skirmishes for two years, earning his moniker, The Fair. When others would quarrel, Diego settled the disputes. He unerringly would deal out solutions that set both sides to grumbling because they could not complain with the lot they were dealt out. This continued unabated for several years. Until one day he was unexpectedly called for to an audience with the very man himself. A nervous, but not showing it, Diego appeared in the throne room. To France And it was then that Diego was asked to do something unusual. The alliance between France and Scotland had the entire Spanish court on edge, but not to the point where outright hostilities would be engaged. They needed an inside man. And like Julian had so accurately predicted when he took Diego as his squire, he was perfect for the job. He was half French, would have a reason to come to the court, and had already had training in the court manners. As well as spoke the language. His ancestry was evident on his face, as well tempered somewhat by his Spanish half, giving him a slightly exotic look that would lend credence to his story that he was from the borders of France and Spain. And thus Sir Diego Ramos the Fair became Sir Christophe Chevalier the Fair, spy. He appeared in France a little over a year ago, the child of the middle son of a minor noble house. No one questioned his story. He gave them no reason to. His manners were impeccable, his French fluent if with a small Spanish accent to be expected from a borderland noble, and his looks charming. Christophe flirted with the court ladies and got on their good side, playing up the need to be listened to. He flattered and charmed the lords, playing on their egos. He wriggled his way into the private councils, contributing small bits and pieces of information supplied by King Hector in order to get on the nobles good sides, and he was in. No one watched him suspiciously, no one checked his mail, and no one questioned him in any way. It was almost too easy. Christophe was disappointed in a way. In the time he’s been in France, Christophe has slowly been funneling information back to his homeland, mostly mundane and ordinary things. Of course, the extraordinary always sneak in when you least expect it. Christophe had been in bed with one of the chambermaids when in the midst of his usual ‘listening’ to what they had to say, she excited told him a piece of tantalizing gossip she’d heard earlier that day. He bolted upright at her words, unable to contain himself. He quietly asked her to repeat herself. She did, revealing that the youngest princess of England was not actually the King’s daughter, but rather the offspring of the King of France, Gustave Beaumont. He rewarded her with a fiery and passionate kiss that degenerated into something else. But in the morning, he sent off a missive to his mother, actually intended for King Hector. He could barely contain his glee. Since that bit of information, he’s also passed on rumors of some sort of overthrow of the English crown being plotted, but nothing concrete. As it stands, Christophe’s got his fingers in all sorts of pots learning all he can, and best of all, no one in France has any inkling of what’s going on. As for his family however, he’s deeply disturbed by his sister’s plans of trying to follow in his footsteps to become a spy. It is entirely too dangerous for her, and he’s told her so. Many times. Doesn’t mean she listens to him. But Christophe cares very deeply for his sister, and if she were in trouble, he’d drop everything in a heartbeat to return to Spain to save her. Which could be something of an issue. It would certainly conflict with his deep sense of national pride and self-accomplishment, that’s for sure. Personality The easiest word to describe Christophe is self. Not self-absorbed or selfish, but rather the fact that’s he comfortable in his own skin. The knight grew up with only himself for company, and as a result he became his own best friend. Being on his own doesn’t scare him like it does many people, and the Spaniard finds inventive way to amuse himself. He’s always been his own man. He possesses an inner strength which helps him to believe in himself and keep his own counsel in a country that would kill him as soon as look at him if they found out the truth of where he came from and why he’s there. Another byproduct of his childhood is Christophe’s craftiness. He was forced to be inventive to find ways to amuse himself alone in the woods, and to be creative. His craftiness serves him well now, as making him an ideal spy. Christophe finds reasons to be various places that he shouldn’t have a reason to be, like a Protestant Church when he’s a Catholic. And he is the consummate actor. He plays whatever role the situation requires, like playing the role of a Protestant, or the minor French nobility. One thing people notice about Christophe is his ability to listen to what they are saying, and seem like he actually hears and cares about it. People he barely knows feel like they can trust him with their secrets or their gossip, and he won’t tell. Christophe plans it that way. It’s how he managed to integrate himself into the French court so quickly and seamlessly. He is charismatic and thoughtful, and people want to talk to him. The ladies love him, because he’s a man who actually seems to care what’s going on in their heads. One thing they don’t notice is his habit of watching and taking in everything that goes on around him. Secrets they thought unobserved are taken in and stored behind placid emerald eyes, dissected and sent to Spain if deemed important. Most things don’t escape him, even if Christophe comes off as quiet and somewhat aloof at times. He’s earned himself the reputation as somewhat of a flirt despite this however, because he realized early on that the palace staff always know everything, and that the noble ladies love pillow talk with a man they believe cares what they have to say. Doesn’t stop him from being a man’s man however, as men gossip too, over the hunt or over palace innerworkings. There is a certain air about Christophe that it sometimes hard to put a name to, but search long enough and the only word that comes to mind is refined. His mother taught him to be a gentleman, and Christophe is going to do it. His manners are impeccable, and his air that of restrained aristocracy. He’s trying hard not to get too attached to anyone here in France, because he knows that he’s helping his King to one day go to war and conquer it in the name of his beloved Spain. Relationships Lady Natalia Ramos The relationship Diego has with his younger sister isn't the typical one of a noble set of siblings. He's ridiculously over-protective of her, and will kill any man he thinks is taking advantage of her, much to her annoyance at times. He vowed as a thirteen year old boy to watch out for her and protect her from anything and everything, and it's a vow he wears on his skin as mark of pride and will fulfill it at the expense of anything else in his life. She's headstrong and willful, so Talia likes to push his buttons often. The little minx. But Natalia and Diego are as close as two siblings can possibly be, and there's no one he loves more in the world. He dreads the day she gets married, and he's no longer the number one male in her life. ﻿Sir Salvador de Soto Sal and Diego grew up together in a way. Sal was his father's squire, and Diego saw him often around the estates, and the boys grew extremely close. He never had any siblings save for Natalia, so another boy around was a welcome change. The three were as thick as thieves, and Diego considers Sal his brother in many ways. He's occasionally jealous of the other boy though. Like when Sal met and fell in love with Rosalia. One of Diego's dreams that he rarely confides in anyone is his dreams of a soulmate, so seeing Sal find that ignited that burning fire in him. But in the end, he helped Sal escape with her to elope figuring there wasn't much his father was going to do to his only son. Even though Sal was dragged back to the estate, the boys are still exceedingly close. Captain Alfonso Ferreiro Diego respects Alfonso, but he will never like him. He knows he has done great work for Spain and continues to do so, and he respects that. But the man is sniffing around his sister, and for that he's earned the anger of the Spanish knight. The problem is, it seems like Natalia likes him back, which has Diego currently reining in his anger. So he'll bid his time until the man does something stupid and then swoop in, damn the consqueces. Hopefully since he's just about the only one who can do his job in France, King Hector will overlook it. Facts *Has an unusual fascination with knives *Has trouble resisting any strongwilled brunette *An avid horseman, treats his stallion like a person sometimes *Deathly loyal to the Spanish Crown *Lies as easily as breathing - except the those he cares about, to whom he's deathly honest Category:The French Court Category:The Spanish Court Category:Knights Category:Spies